Political Objectives Research Articles

POLITICS AND AI: COMMUNICATION STYLE OF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE PRABOWO-GIBRAN'S POLITICAL CAMPAIGN

The communication model carried out by Prabowo-Gibran in the 2024 presidential election contestation campaign is mass communication. The purpose of this research is to deepen the impact of AI technology in political contestation that occurs in Indonesia. The theory used is Hypodermic Needle Communication using a mechanistic paradigm approach. This research uses a qualitative method with a descriptive approach. The descriptive approach was chosen in order to comprehensively understand the phenomenon that is happening. This research aims to help understand the impact of AI technology in a political context. In this case, the effectiveness of Prabowo-Gibran presidential candidates' political communication in the 2024 political campaign is the main subject for this research. This research adopts a qualitative method with a focus on a descriptive approach. The selection of the descriptive approach aims to thoroughly in-depth the existing phenomenon. The main focus of the research is to evaluate the effectiveness of political communication from presidential candidate Prabowo-Gibran in the 2024 political campaign. The use of AI in visual design communication aims to create a campaign that prioritizes navigation that gives the impression of fun but still provides useful knowledge and information. Given that the focus of the mechanistic paradigm and the Hypodermic Needle communication theory is the impact of communication, the use of AI in illustration and visualization increases the effectiveness of communication in the Prabowo-Gibran campaign more massively.

Ulama in Indonesia's Political Contestation: The Indonesian Ulama Council's Election Posts on Instagram

Ulama in Indonesia's Political Contestation: The Indonesian Ulama Council's Election Posts on Instagram

Constitution as recommendation

Can a constitution be treated as a recommendation rather than as binding and entrenched law? I argue that the answer to that question is Yes. With respect to the constitution in gross, that is, the total set of general provisions setting out both the structures of governance and the basic rights the constitution protects, the constitution as recommendation can serve as a focal point for ordinary political contestation which, because it unfolds in real time and is conducted by actors with limited time and energy for such contestation, occurs within (largely) settled institutional forms. With respect to the constitution in detail, that is, brought to ground in judicial judgments in contested cases, the answer is more complicated. Ordinarily treating judicial judgments as recommendations is a prescription for instability (and for that reason inconsistent with the idea of institutional settlement). If the target of such a judgment makes a considered judgment that instability is worth it, the target is raising questions about the continuing value of remaining in the particular polity within which the principle of institutional settlement holds sway.

Coming of Age While Challenging Borders: Networks of Solidarity and Resistance of Swedish-Afghan Youths on the Move in Europe

This article examines the strategies of resistance enacted by an informal network of solidarity comprised of Afghan youths on the move in Europe and their Swedish allies. In 2015, thousands of Afghan children fleeing from the Taliban regime arrived in Europe as unaccompanied minors. Many have been hosted in Sweden and lived there for several years, until coming of age. Reaching 18 years prompted a series of consecutive losses, as the Swedish state limited their opportunities to remain in the country or even illegalized them. Subjected to threats of detention, deportation, and ill treatment, many Afghan youths re-escaped into other European countries, crafting networks of informal solidarity to help them resist border violence. This article is based on an ethnographic study that delves into the lived experiences of four Afghan youths who lived in Lisbon between February 2019 and February 2020, particularly focusing on the journey of Ahmed, a young man of Hazara ethnicity. The empirical data shed light on the solidarity enactments that enhanced the youths’ resistance in hostile environments, inviting reflection on the impacts of the European border regime and the importance of agency, care, and political contestation.

The Influence of Diplomatic and Foreign Policy Considerations in the Making of Migration and Asylum Policy in Morocco

Abstract Can the management of transnational migration and asylum be used as an instrument of foreign policy? From labour market needs to legal issues, electoral pressure, and financial and commercial interests, the scholarly literature on the drivers of migration policy in both the North and the South has focused primarily on domestic factors. The case of Morocco offers a useful additional perspective. The security-orientated and restrictive policy toward transmigrants applied in the 2000s gave way, in 2013, to a new approach that was much more welcoming and mindful of migrant integration. Since Morocco’s independence in 1956, asylum management has been driven exclusively by security and political objectives. Although it has never had a national asylum system, Morocco has officially taken the initiative to establish a system that complies with its international commitments in asylum. By taking a Moroccan perspective on the situation, this article examines the management of migration and asylum by a country of the Global South with a multifaceted migration profile (as a country that is simultaneously one of emigration, transit, and immigration). It shows that Morocco’s change in migration policy is a reflection of its evolving foreign policy.

Türkiye in International Energy Trade: Implementation of Social Network Analysis

Energy resources are fundamental inputs in almost every sector and play a crucial role in development and economic stability. This situation has increased the importance of keeping energy costs low, becoming a significant factor in attaining global superiority. In the contemporary era, where states represent the highest level of the organization, the strategic importance of these resources has been further exposed. The strategic value of energy resources, predominantly encompassing fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas, and coal, has precipitated intense global competition. The dynamics of energy resource trade have transcended mere profit-driven motives, transforming into a tool wielded by governments for various political objectives. This paradigm shifts underscores the vitality of energy supply security, prompting the formulation of energy trade networks guided by policies and national strategies. Within these networks, participating actors exhibit diverse traits shaped by distinct circumstances, assuming varied roles through pre-existing relationships. The purpose of the research is to examine the energy trade network of Türkiye, implementing the social network analysis method that integrates empirical data and mathematical approaches. The study aims to unveil pivotal aspects of the network, including its size within the global energy trade landscape, density, relational ties among actors, centrality, and brokerage degrees. The research aims to contribute valuable insights to understanding Türkiye's positioning in the global energy trade through these analyses. The results indicate that the volume of Türkiye's energy trade network accounts for around 1/3 of the global energy trade. While no single dominant actor exists in the network, specific entities demonstrate significant brokerage power. The analysis highlights the impact of global energy players, including Russia, the United States, and some European countries. Finally, the study involves recommendations for future research, anticipating a continued exploration of the complicated dynamics shaping energy trade networks on a global scale.

Wardian case, glass, and fountain: A reflection on the history of shopping mall in Hong Kong

This article examines the history of Hong Kong's shopping malls by exploring the complex relationship between colonialism, capitalism, and localism, which shape the temporary nature of these malls. We trace the origins of modern retail spaces to the colonial practice of transporting plants using Wardian cases, revealing how colonial influences are embedded in mall design. By analyzing the use of glass, we demonstrate how it facilitates the flow of desire and capital. Using a music fountain in a Sha Tin mall as a case study, we highlight the tension between malls as nonplaces and the local community's desire for meaningful experiences, resulting in malls becoming spaces for political protests in recent years in Hong Kong.

Data localization as contested and narrated security in the age of digital sovereignty: the case of Switzerland

ABSTRACT The construction and effects on national boundaries have become central topics in public and academic debates on digital sovereignty. Both state and non-state actors increasingly consider jurisdictions and traditional governing structures as means to capture and regulate digital data flows. This article delves into the intricate phenomenon of ‘data localization’, conceptualizing it as a socio-technical assemblage reflecting the evolving expectations surrounding Internet architecture and national boundaries. Interviewing the users of Threema – a Swiss secure messaging app – this study unravels data localization practices as a hybrid black box, intertwining technical changes, political discourses, socio-technical imaginaries, and shifting social norms. Drawing on the field of Science and Technology Studies, we mobilize the analytical tools of controversy and discourse to highlight data localization as a locus of political contestation in Switzerland, where imaginaries of national boundaries are often mobilized to symbolize security and reliability. The article provides three key contributions to the discourse on digital sovereignty, fragmentation, and governance. Firstly, it argues for the usefulness of Science and Technology Studies in understanding Internet governance, emphasizing the need for analyses grounded in specific socio-technical contexts. Secondly, it advocates for a social perspective on digital sovereignty, emphasizing user agency, social movements, and collective action as crucial factors shaping the governance of data flows. Lastly, the article sheds light on users resorting to state jurisdictions as a means to reinforce control over data flows, exploring the discursive mobilization of national boundaries in the digital public sphere.

Violent conflict and multinational enterprises: identifying key frontiers in international business policy research

Violent conflicts are events that involve the purposeful use of violence by state and/or non-state actor(s) to achieve political objectives, which result in disruptions to the institutional environment where actors such as civil society and multinational enterprises (MNEs) are situated. Examples of violent conflicts include civil and interstate wars and terrorist attacks. Violent conflicts typically have multiple, often devastating consequences that pose difficult policy challenges for governments and MNEs. This perspective offers an international business (IB) research and policy agenda to advance our understanding of the linkages between violent conflict and MNEs, focusing on three IB research and policy frontiers: the mechanisms through which MNEs are exposed to violent conflicts globally, MNE strategies and violent conflicts, and the interplay between MNEs and violent conflict environments. We also discuss appropriate datasets and research methods for studying MNEs and violent conflict.

Orchestrating public reforms through joint organizations: the case of a new remuneration policy in Belgian healthcare

ABSTRACT While remuneration policies in the public sector are a powerful lever for attracting and retaining qualified staff, they are known to be notoriously difficult to change. This paper sets out to unveil how remuneration reforms unfold by exploring the case of Belgian healthcare, in which a sectoral organization jointly managed by employers and labour unions implemented a new compensation framework. Two contributions emerged from this study. First, the paper emphasizes the strengths and challenges of joint organizations in orchestrating public reforms. Second, the tensions between political objectives, managerial rationalities, and workers’ expectations that arise when transforming remuneration policies are highlighted.

Eva Piirimäe on Herder’s political thought

ABSTRACT Eva Piirimäe's Herder and Enlightenment Politics deserves recognition as a landmark study in the scholarship of Johann Gottfried Herder, and of eighteenth-century political thought more broadly. Piirimäe shows us that Herder should be taken very seriously as a political thinker of the eighteenth century. Herder engaged in the central debates of his time and possessed a political programme concerned with the possibility for – and reformist potential of – a distinctive kind of patriotism. The review welcomes Piirimäe's contextualist, historicist approach to Herder's political thought, allowing us to understand Herder “in his own terms”. Piirimäe thereby reveals that the coherence, scope and urgency of Herder's political programme, addressing the particular challenges of his European modernity, has hitherto been underappreciated. Piirimäe suggests that Herder's political objectives provided an important and underappreciated impetus to his cultural thought. Piirimäe also emphasises the significance of Herder's experiences in the distinctive commercial environment of Riga and draws attention to his engagement with the genre of Imperial Reichsgeschichte. These highlight a more modern outlook on history and politics than is often appreciated, particularly in Kantian scholarship, and which must be borne in mind as a qualification to his famous critiques in Another Philosophy of History (1774).

The Prison and the Revolution in Myanmar: Exploring Prison Protests During a Revolutionary Situation

What role do prison protests play in revolutions? This article examines the prison protests that have occurred since the military coup, situating them as integral and instructive elements of an unfolding revolutionary situation. The analysis explores the character and significance of such protests at a moment of fierce and violent political contestation. It documents and contextualises them and develops an argument about their contemporary significance informed by the academic literature on prisons and revolution and prisons and protest. The article shows how the prison today is a revolutionary battlefront characterised by the activation and vulnerability of prisoners’ bodies, the interrelation between collective and individual actions and consequences, and the connection between events outside and inside the prison. Today’s protests resonate evocatively with those of the past. They are sometimes a deliberate intervention in bigger struggles and sometimes a response to the everyday and immediate provocation of inhumane conditions. Whatever the range of forms, patterns, drivers, and triggers of prison protests, the most common response from the authorities is violence, often with deadly effects.

Urban energy transition in renewable energy management considering policy and law challenges and opportunities in the pursuit of clean and sustainable urban environments

This research presents a novel approach to enhance sustainable energy development based on wind turbine (WT) output power prediction through the development of a hybrid deep learning model, considering policy and law challenges associated with the problem. The proposed model integrates a Self-Supervised Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) with Attention-based Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs). The Self-Supervised GAN contributes to improved feature representation learning, while Attention-based RNNs capture temporal dependencies for accurate WT output power forecasting considering political challenges. Additionally, a Modified Adaptive Flower Pollination Algorithm (AFPA) is introduced to optimize the selection of the GAN model structure in view of the legal and political objectives. This adaptive approach refines the architecture of the GAN, enhancing its ability to generate realistic and informative features for the subsequent Attention-based RNNs. The efficacy of the hybrid model is demonstrated through real-world applications in an urban area, emphasizing sensitivity and stability analyses. A thorough investigation into the sensitivity of key model parameters, including the number of hidden units in the Attention-based RNNs and GAN structures, is conducted to fine-tune the model's performance. Stability analysis is employed to assess the robustness of the proposed method under dynamic conditions, ensuring its reliability in practical scenarios. Results indicate that the hybrid model, guided by the Modified AFPA, outperforms existing approaches in WT output power prediction. The proposed methodology showcases the significance of combining state-of-the-art deep learning techniques with adaptive optimization algorithms for accurate and stable predictions in urban energy management applications.

Translation as Politics: Translating Nikolai Karamzin’s Letters of a Russian Traveler in Nineteenth-Century France

This article examines the three translations of Nikolai Karamzin’s Letters of a Russian Traveler published in nineteenth-century France. Relying on Descriptive Translation Studies so as to challenge the traditional narrative about the political innocuousness of Karamzin’s travelogue, it reconstructs the historical contexts of the three publications in order to highlight the political agendas of their translators and/or translating patrons. Far from being the innocent product of the translators’ sheer curiosity, the three translations prove to be political objects, used at three key moments in the history of Franco-Russian relations in the nineteenth century, in order to call for political change, to try and restore Russia’s damaged reputation, or to attempt to forge new diplomatic alliances.

Social media regulation in Uganda: the dilemma of laxity and conformity to international norms

ABSTRACT The proliferation of social media use has resulted in the quest for standards and norms relating to internet governance. Uganda has gradually instituted laws, occasionally shut down the internet and levied taxes to regulate social media use. Initially, the norms and standards resulted from negative consequences of social media use, such as hate speech, incitement, and misinformation. However, the regime has used this pretext to curtail collective voices, dissent, and freedom of expression that social media use brings into the political arena. The dilemma in the international system is that social media regulation has taken a new twist as different countries adopt what they feel is appropriate. Drawing from the primary and secondary data sources, it can be concluded that the Ugandan regime has used social media regulation to keep political dissent, incitement, and protests in check, and states such as Uganda get support from big actors that are proponents of legal frameworks and internet sovereignty.

Apakah Post-Truth Berbasis Ideologi Membahayakan Demokrasi: Perspektif Penyebaran Fakta Di Media Sosial

The “post-truth” phenomenon that shakes the foundations of democracy by prioritizing emotional and ideological narratives over objective facts, especially in the context of social media and ideology, threatens healthy political processes and participation in society in political decision making. The aim of this research is to understand the impact of ideology-based post-truth on the stability and integrity of democracy. The research methods used in this article are based on a comprehensive literature review. The results of this research are that ideology-based post-truth poses a serious threat to the health of democracy. This phenomenon not only creates deeper political polarization and results in the spread of damaging misinformation, but also adds to the foundations of democracy such as trust in institutions, political stability, and freedom of thought and expression. The public must understand that when ideology dominates the political narrative and objective facts are ignored, democracy becomes vulnerable to manipulation and power manipulation.

Do firms hedge against political tensions? Evidence from Chinese food importers of Norwegian salmon

AbstractPolitical and economic tensions, which often jeopardise trade, are rising among the world's major powers, and countries like China are more frequently using food‐related trade actions to deal with deteriorating political relations. Using an event study approach, this paper investigates how importers respond to lasting political tensions by examining China's seafood importers' responses to the 6‐year Norway–China political tensions after Norway awarded Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese political dissident, a Nobel Peace Prize in 2010. Our results reveal firm‐level responses at both the intensive and extensive margins. At the intensive margin, firms that imported Norwegian fresh salmon before the sanction saw a 20% persistent decline in their fresh salmon import value and an 80% decrease in the import share of Norwegian fresh salmon products over our study period. At the extensive margin, we find a trade diversion effect that firms imported fresh salmon from Norway to other countries and regions, but also a consistent ‘political hedging’ effect 3 years after sanction with a 20% decline in the maximum import share from any particular country or region, even if not Norway.

Singing Theories of Conspiracy – Anti- Corona Songs as Political Protest in Denmark and Sweden

Denne artikel udforsker tilgangen til COVID-19-pandemien (2020-2023) i den globale konspirationskultur og fokuserer på anti-corona-musik i Danmark og Sverige. Artiklen undersøger sange som udtryk for politisk protest drevet af konspirationstænkning. Dette studie analyserer fire sange (to fra hhv. Danmark og Sverige) gennem deduktiv og induktiv kodning af tekster og observation af optræden online. Sangene udtrykker typiske retoriske strategier og narrative troper, der findes i online anti-vaccine-retorik og musik i det tyske anti-vaccine-miljø. De danske sange afbilleder ”Men in Black”-konfronterende kultur, mens de svenske gengiver Frihedsbevægelsens vage ønsker om frihed. Artiklen generaliserer ikke på grund af den lille ”sample” størrelse, men forsøger at kontekstualisere sangene i forhold til politisk protestkultur.

The National Federation of Labor Youth and the Candy Bar Kids

Thousands of children and youth across the country took to the streets for two weeks in spring 1947 to protest a three-cent increase in the price of chocolate bars. The protest initially generated enthusiastic press coverage and had widespread popular support, but when the National Federation of Labor Youth (nfly), the Communist Party’s youth organization, announced its support, anti-communists in the press and the community red-baited the protesters. The campaign quickly lost momentum, which anti-communists attributed to the presence of Communists but was more likely due to their own red-baiting attacks in the press. Some of these protests were spontaneous reactions to a 40 per cent increase in the price of candy bars, while others were led or inspired by nfly. Either way, the countrywide mobilization of thousands of children and youth marks a turning point in the history of Canada’s left. Erupting in tandem with a nationwide strike of industrial workers and protests of activist consumers demanding greater economic security and a more responsive state, the children’s chocolate bar protest provides a window on this critical moment in the class struggle. The attacks on this popular protest at the moment that the long run of community-based militancy was about to be demonized, delegitimated, and silenced by red-baiting marks a significant milestone in Canada’s Cold War. In addition to adding the youngsters’ challenge to capital and the state to the history of the popular left, the event contributes to the growing literature on children and youth engaged in political protest, while their creative protest strategies offer a youthful dimension to the study of performance activism.

Traditional masculinity ideology and political protests in authoritarian regimes: Unpacking the role of attitudes toward political authorities.

Traditional masculinity ideology and political protests in authoritarian regimes: Unpacking the role of attitudes toward political authorities.